Missing You (One-Shot)
by taykai1314
Summary: Starfire goes home for a couple of days, leaving Robin to really take in just how much he needs her in his life. Perhaps Robin learns just how much Starfire means to him.


It's rare when a leader catches a chance for a break, and on a night like tonight, I wasn't going to pass up the chance.

Jump City was starting to go through the changing season of autumn. The winds were beginning to quicken and the air was starting to get a bit crisp. I tend to favor the cold seasons, but along with the crisper weather comes seasonal colds. Starfire and Cyborg normally remain immune, leaving them to tend to soup-making and tissue-supplying. Being a leader, I'm not so fond of colds. Getting a cold only makes me feel weak, and not just physically, but mentally.

Crime has luckily been at a minimum, but I know the busy time is yet to come. Holiday season is just around the corner, a thief's favorite time of year. Christmas has grown to be just another work day for me and the team. As much as I wish we could have a break and enjoy ourselves, we can't just ignore crime.

I raked a hand through my ebony locks. With all the stress of our criminals, I am surprised I wasn't balding, especially with the events of this week.

At the beginning of this week, I realized Starfire had begun to look a bit glum. It wasn't hard to see that she was missing her family, her Knorfka.

Not too long ago, I had caught Starfire crying at the sight of a broken frame. The framed picture was of Star and her Knorfka, or caretaker. He had raised her from a baby until she left Tamaran, her home planet.

I didn't take long to fix the damage done to the frame; I simply gave her a replacement. I assumed that would have taken care of the problem. I shouldn't have been so naive. The problem may have appeared to be fixed, but as much as I wished to, I can't mend her emotional pain.

After taking into consideration the extent of her heartache, I offered her a trip back to Tamaran. Even though Star doesn't need any equipment to get there, I had Cyborg craft a small space shuttle for her travel.

Starfire reassured me she could manage and that my offer was unnecessary, but I could see all too well how much she was being affected. Starfire was slowing in combat and her powers were weakening, an side effect from her emotions.

I didn't want her to go, but what kind of friend would I be if I didn't let her? Considering the loss of my parents long ago, if she has a chance to see her Knorfka, who am I to ban her from such a privilege?

I've faced many difficult obstacles, but seeing Starfire off the day she departed for Tamaran was one of the hardest.

I don't think I have ever really opened my eyes to Starfire until that moment. My senses seemed sharper, taking in much more of Starfire than I have ever dared to before, from the golden brown tint of her skin to her fiery red locks. I'd never noticed how her hair slightly bent into waves or how natural her graceful attributes are.

No, I know Starfire. Perhaps I was just trying to take all of her in before she left.

The more I thought of Star, the more I found myself struggling with simple memories of her.

"Goodbye, Robin. I shall be back soon," she whispered.

I remember feeling so numb in that moment. I tried fumbling with the words floating around in my head, but it was useless.

"Take your time, Star. We will all be waiting for you when you get back," I reassured her, but she didn't need reassurance. I was merely filling the void between us with empty words.

"Much thanks, Robin. If you should need anything, I have brought along my communicator."

I nodded. Mentally, I was beating myself up for my actions. If only my team wasn't behind me, their eyes taking the two of us in. I longed to stop her, to pull her into my arms and beg her to stay. How weak and completely unlike me. Robin would never do such things, but perhaps the boy under the mask would.

Sensing my unease, Starfire pulled me into a hug. I had been taken off-guard, but I wasn't willing to let her leave without some affection from me.

I pulled her close, her warm frame pressed against mine. We lingered there for what only seemed like seconds. Starfire pulled away and whispered one last goodbye, a goodbye I believed was only meant for me.

The wind picked up around me, bringing me back to my current state of being. My cape trailed along the back of me, a warning to head home, or to venture further.

I've never paid much attention to details when it comes to nature. The leaves were beginning to take on colorful, autumn shades. Light reds, vibrant yellows, and dimming oranges specked color upon the trees.

I don't care for the city much. I have always taken to solitary areas. The only quiet you can find in Jump is either my room or the forest. Yet, why does the forest feel so surreal to me? As if I have never encountered it before. Had I really been so in tune with my thoughts that I became blind to my surroundings? Maybe Starfire just has that effect on me.

The thought was scary, but I had given up trying to fight my affection for her. While it is something I have been continuously fighting, I have realized I will never win.

I brought myself further into the wilderness, the wind fighting against me. I pushed on anyway.

I wished in some parallel world I could give Starfire what she wanted. Tell her how I felt, and show her the love she deserves.

But we are heroes. Lives are at stake. My affection for her would have to remain behind closed doors, and hopefully she would be willing to agree with me.

"Oh Robin, you do not wish me to leave, do you?"

The memory seemed as though it had taken place just yesterday.

"No, Star, I'm not trying to get rid of you. I just think it would be better for the team and yourself if you took a break. You miss your family, your home," I explained.

"Oh, but Robin, Earth is my home. I have a new life here with you and my team."

'With you'

I tried not to over think her words, but being a teenage boy, I couldn't help it.

"You're not leaving the team, Star. It's just a short break."

Starfire gave up. She gave a slight slouch; her usual bright jade eyes had dimmed into an emerald color.

I gave her a smile and hoped it appeared encouraging. She straightened up a bit, her eyes finding their way up to mine.

I felt myself being drawn into her. I had never longed to hold someone so much, but I fought the urge. Instead, I walked to her closet. A selection of her usual 'hero' attire filled the space, along with a few shirts and jeans.

I pulled out her light pink suitcase, one she had purchased when we accompanied her to Tamaran. It had been my first encounter with the strange, new planet.

I set the suitcase on her bed and unzipped the top, exposing the empty interior.

"Let's get this suitcase filled, shall we," I gave her a smirk.

That's all it took to bring a beautiful grin back to her face.

I furthered into the darkness of the night, my thoughts fluttering in and out of my mind like a flickering light against the darkness.

I wonder what Starfire is doing right now. Maybe she is engorging in a Tamaran feast, or maybe she is already asleep.

I approached a quiet brook. Its trickling drowned out by the rustling of the wind throughout the trees; its soft existence seemed to soothe me.

I leaned down and retrieved a flat pebble from the earth. I gently tossed it into the silent waters. Ripples surrounded the pebble and danced over it, pulling it down into its dark depths. Ironically, so did another memory.

"Starfire!" I yelled.

I thought at that time, I was going to lose her. We had been fighting some type of water fiend. I hadn't had a chance to analyze it. It had attacked the city's water tower. The water tower supplied it with enough water to wander the streets with. Draining the tower only left it with one more chance of survival. It was headed for the ocean.

We caught the fiend right before it reached the ocean, but Starfire got too close. Cyborg and I were trying to develop a plan to use fire to evaporate the menace, when Raven called out to us. Starfire was being drowned.

The memory burned in my mind.

Her jade filled eyes gleamed with power and longing.

I threw myself at the menace, submerging myself in his water-like body. I could hear the team calling out for me to stop.

My move was not wise. I dived in with no plan, just the thought of saving Starfire somehow.

Luckily, Cyborg had developed a way to evaporate the fiend, which led to why the team was begging me not to dive in. I should have stopped, heard my team out, but I can't say what I did wasn't right.

I gave a smirk to forest as I moved along, the flash of the memory beginning to fade.

The land began to shift upward a bit, a rocky horizon commencing to greet me.

Within minutes I was atop a large hill, Titans Tower casting its light upon me.

I smirked at the sight.

At the end of the day, all I am left with is the reality of my life. The Titans Tower symbolized just that. I am a Titan. Willing to serve the people and put all else before myself and my team.

"Robin, come in Robin," Cyborg called out.

Eager, I slipped my communicator off my belt, "What's up?"

"We got ourselves a problem, get here pronto."

"Roger, be there in a few."

I slipped my communicator back into place.

Life doesn't always turn out how we want it. Yet, there is nothing else I would rather do then protect. I live for the people of Jump. Sometimes I find myself questioning the life I live, but with my friends beside me, I can walk out of any battle alive. If there is one thing I am sure of, I am sure of that.


End file.
